Is Not Eating Sushi During Pregnancy a Myth?

You’ll hear many things while you’re pregnant and some so often that you’ll probably just about take them on as fact.  The truth is though, there are many misconceptions surrounding getting pregnant, pregnancy and indeed parenting and it is really hard to sort through all the information to really know what is true and what is fiction.  Sadly without facts to back them up people repeat these things and very quickly they become part of what we consider socially acceptable for a pregnant woman.  There are some of these ‘stories’ however, that do contain a grain of truth but often the facts have got a little mixed up and convoluted so I am here to set you straight so you can feel confident about the decisions you are making during pregnancy. One of the most common of these is being told that you cannot eat sushi while pregnant because of the fish.  The truth is that you can eat fish while pregnant as long as you stick  to low-mercury fish like salmon or shrimp and avoid fish with elevated mercury levels like tuna, swordfish, mackerel, shark, and tilefish, limiting your servings to two 6 ounce servings per week!  The problem with even the low mercury level sushi is that it is raw.  Consuming raw fish (or meat and eggs) while pregnant can be dangerous because of the possible contamination with coliform bacteria, toxoplasmosis and salmonella.  All of which can potentially be harmful to you and your baby.  So bottom line, avoid sushi while pregnant, its just not worth the risk and stick to low mercury cooked fish.

Tags: pregnancy advice, pregnancy nutrition, sushi